Chapter Thirty
Freya was soon discharged to go home. She hadn’t seen either of the twins at the hospital and, despite her mind wondering why, she was also glad they’d kept their distance. She was still confused.
She left the room, walking slowly. The dizziness had stopped, but she still didn’t feel strong enough to walk far from a supporting wall. Upon reaching the hospital entrance, however, she stopped. Tanya was leaning against the car door, her arms crossed.
“Hey, baby girl.”
“Tanya?” she frowned. Since it all started, she never thought about Tanya and Tara, but they ... they had to be...
“Get in, baby girl. We’ll talk inside.”
She glanced nervously at the back seat, but it was empty.
“They’re not here, baby girl. They wanted to, but Uncle Connor, our Alpha, didn’t allow it. Come on, get in.”
She bit her lip and shook her head, growing increasingly nervous. What would Tanya do if...?
“Get in, baby girl,” said Tanya, sternly. “You’re not going home on foot. It’s too far away.”
Sighing, and feeling tired beyond words, Freya got in the car. Tanya closed the door and sat on the driver’s side. Freya flinched when she heard the locks. Clearly, Tanya wasn’t going to take any risks.
“I’m not going to run,” she said dully.
“I know. And besides, we know where you live.” She was flashing a smile, but Freya stared stubbornly ahead, and after a while Tanya gave up.
The ride was uncomfortable. And Tanya was right, the drive was long, Freya wasn’t sure she could have done it on foot. But when she turned to the road where her little house sat, she inhaled sharply.
“They love you; you know that, right?” said Tanya, after a while. She parked at the entrance of her house but made no move to unlock the doors. Biting her lip, Freya refused to answer. “They wanted to camp on hospital grounds, but our Alpha had forbidden it.”
“You’re all family, you can do whatever the hell it is you want,” she said bitterly.
“We are,” she conceded. “And had it been Uncle Connor giving the order, the boys would go in a flash; but it was our Alpha who commanded it. No one goes against an Alpha’s order.”
“They’re the same.”
“The same person, yes, but with different grounds of authority. Uncle Connor can ask; our Alpha orders.”
An uncomfortable silence fell upon them, and Freya was still biting her lip, clearly feeling uneasy.
“Who were those wolves? The ones I heard that night?”
“We don’t know. It wasn’t one of ours. We had strict orders to let you live in peace, unaware of our existence. Befriend you, yes, but not reveal ourselves.”
“What changed?” she asked dully, despite already knowing the answer. Tanya smiled sadly.
“If you need to ask, those two have been doing a crap ass job in showing you. You changed. You’re their mates. They both love you.”
“They’re two, I’m only one.”
“In our world, it’s not unheard of for identical twins to share the same mate.
In fact, it can be quite common. It’s never happened around here because there were no twins, except those two, and Declan and Ciaran just arrived from the war.
They served in the High King’s army and returned home to readjust to civilian life.
It was supposed to be just a vacation, but then they found you.
They wrote to their superiors, and to the High King himself. The rest, you already know.”
Freya laughed bitterly.
“I seriously doubt that every soldier feels the need to write to High King when they find their mate.”
“No, indeed, they don’t. But Declan and Ciaran are the equivalent to special forces in your world. Besides, the High King has a special interest in you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You were introduced to our world in the worst way possible. It was his way of making amendments. Besides, his Beta went out of his way to make sure you were taken care of. The house you live in? It was his. He gave it to you.”
“And all that talk about taking me out of the home? Was that the Beta speaking as well?”
“Baby girl...”
“The truth, Tanya. I’m fed up with lies.”
“It wasn’t, okay? We didn’t know what had happened before we arrived.
We used to spend our summers here with Nanna, only this year the twins came early, you had already moved into the house next to Nanna’s, and she had already learned about you.
We were told to keep our distance, but then the twins smelled you and we did the next best thing, which was to try to bring you out of your shell. ”
“Unlock the car, I’m tired,” whispered Freya, closing her eyes.
“Stop running!” shouted Tanya, punching the steering wheel in frustration. “You’re better than this shell! The twins bend over backward to help you heal; you have us now! You’re not alone!”
“What do you know about loneliness?”
“Nothing,” said Tanya bitterly. “I’ve always had my family.
And I know that it’s little to no consolation to you, but I also didn’t find my mate.
And you know what? For a wolf, it can be lonely not to have your mate with you.
But it’s okay, because we have each other.
And I really wanted to have you as well. ”
Freya lowered her head, hiding behind the thick curtain of hair. She was so, so tired...
“Please unlock the car.”
“Can the twins visit you?”
“I’m not ready.”
“I know. But give yourself some time. You know they’ll always be around you; you’re their better half.”
****
Tanya finally unlocked the car and Freya left, without saying goodbye. With a sigh, she saw her enter her little house and close the door behind her. The sound of the deadbolts was clearly audible for her heightened sense of hearing.
Pain, betrayal, stubbornness, broken heart ... she could feel these vibrations emanating violently from the young woman, and she couldn't say she blamed her. Shit!